The invention refers to an outside rear-view mirror for a vehicle.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 32 20 893 discloses an outside rearview mirror having a pedestal and a mirror housing wherein a mirror glass is mounted as known in the art. The mirror housing is mounted to the pedestal such that it may rock rearwardly i.e. opposite to the direction the car is normally driven, towards the car body to which the pedestal is fastened. The rearward rocking movement of the mirror housing terminates in an end positon of the mirror housing wherein the front portion of the mirror housing rim is supported by a recessed free end of an arm which is pivotably mounted to the pedestal and is urged forwardly by a spring. When the driver of the car intends to run the car through a narrow passage he may rock the mirror housing projecting outwardly from the car body into said end position. The car may then pass through a passage having smaller width.
After having passed said passage the driver may wish to transfer the mirror housing into the positon of normal use thereof relative to the pedestal. To this end the driver has to urge the arm rearwardly in order to release the mirror housing. Thereby a security risk is encountered because the fingers of the driver may be clamped between the pedestal and the rim of the mirror housing which returns to its normal position of use under the influence of a strong tension spring.
For reducing the risk of injury during return tilting of the mirror housing from a tilted end positon into a positon for normal use, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/239,384 discloses a mirror housing which swings against an overcomeable stop defining a tilted end position. For returning the mirror housing into the position of normal use only a certain force has to be applied on the mirror housing which releases it from the stop and allows it to tilt into the position for normal use. Thus, the driver needs no longer manipulate with his fingers in the space between the tilted mirror housing and the pedestal.
Nevertheless, in this outside rearview mirror a space remains between the tilted mirror housing and the pedestal which is freely accessible and therefore creates a certain safety problem i.e., in the event of manipulations for maintenance or repair which are carried out in trusting that the mirror housing is safely held in the tilting end position thereof by the catch mechanism. Moreover, foreign matter or water from wash-mobils may enter into the interior of the mirror housing when the mirror housing is titled to the car body.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 30 32 392 discloses a tiltable outside rear-view-mirror for a vehicle wherein an elastic sheath is fastened to the forward section of the mirror housing and the pedestal which covers the space between the mirror housing and the pedestal when the mirror housing has assumed a tilted position. Such sheath is usually made from bellows of elastic material and is therefore very expensive because special provisions have to be made for its permanent mounting to the pedestal and the mirror housing. Moreover, such elastic material ages and becomes brittle and crackled under the influence of normal driving conditions. Additionally, it is more difficult to clean the comparatively soft material of the sheath than the mirror housing which commonly is formed from hard plastics.